Chapter 1: The Three Great Pillars:

Church historians sometimes refer to the apostles Peter, Paul and John as the three pillars of the church. As we look from the perspective of church history, viewing Peter, Paul and John in this way gives us an interesting, and quite accurate, paradigm for interpreting our history. Without question Peter, Paul and John had the greatest impact on the first century church. Peter actually laid the foundation with both the Jews and the Gentiles, but he was soon overshadowed by the extraordinary labors of Paul. Only after these two had entered into their reward as martyrs did John, with his mystical but profound revelation of his beloved Savior, ascend to the forefront of the church's emphasis. Interestingly, church history closely follows this same pattern.

The Nature Of Peter:

Peter was impetuous, unstable, prone to both breathtaking victories and heartrending mistakes. At one point he was praised with one of the greatest honors the Lord ever gave to a man: Blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter [a stone], and upon this rock [large rock—speaking on the revelation] I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:17-19).

Immediately after this greatest of affirmations Peter received possibly the greatest rebuke ever given to a man: But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's" (Matthew 16:23).

Peter was prone to the greatest of extremes. He received the greatest of commissions and the greatest of rebukes within the span of a couple of minutes! He would open the gates of heaven and then the gates of hell. He would walk on water and then deny the Lord. He would be the first to enter the home of a Gentile to preach the gospel, and then get so carried away in hypocrisy toward the Gentiles that the youngest of apostles would have to rebuke him publicly. The most spectacular successes would be quickly followed by the most devastating defeats. Peter was hot or cold, no one would ever accuse him of being lukewarm.

Peter - The First Pillar Of The Church:

By the third century A.D., the developing church, with the notable exceptions of Tertullian and Augustine, began to almost completely ignore the Letters of Paul and the foundational principles that he had given to the church, as well as those of John, with his emphasis on relationship with the Lord. Peter became both the emphasis and the proclaimed seat upon which the Medieval church would sit. Likewise, the nature of the church in the Middle Ages accurately parallels the nature of Peter. Spectacular victories would be followed by the adoption of some of the most diabolical errors. When studying the history of the church during this time we can almost hear the Lord saying repeatedly, "Blessed are you church," followed by, "Get behind Me, Satan!" Because Paul's letters were essentially ignored, all of the errors that Paul had spent his life standing against came flooding into the church during this period. Peter was the evangelist par excellence. He boldly testified of the Lordship of Jesus, opening the door of faith to both the Jews and the Gentiles. The Medieval church also spread the fame of the Savior over the known world. The "conquests" of the church during this time were every bit as extraordinary in history as the ministry of Peter is in Scripture. Like Peter, the church was persecuted and sometimes "imprisoned," but she also would have miraculous escapes that led to even greater advances for the gospel. During this time the greatest real threat to the church was not the forces without, but those within. The serious errors that crept into the fabric of the church were far more threatening than any of the forces that were arrayed against the church from without.

Paul Again Rebukes Peter:

In time the Reformation was born as Hus, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and other powerful church leaders "rediscovered" the Pauline Epistles. The Reformation could be viewed somewhat as Paul again standing up to publicly rebuke Peter for his serious errors. Now, for over five hundred years the Protestant church has focused its attention mostly on the epistles and doctrines of Paul. Paul, considered to be the greatest teacher in church history, was the greatest champion of the freedom that Jesus purchased for every believer. These foundational truths were recovered by The Reformation church, and she once again became the greatest source of truth the world has ever known. The Reformation churches became so committed to the value of individual faith that it actually gave birth to the democratic form of government. This emphasis was greatly needed and has unquestionably blessed the world. However, there is a third "pillar," and the transformation to this third great phase of the church has now begun.

The Final Phase Of Church History:

Just as the apostle John did not come into his place as the prevailing influence until the other two great pillars of the church had passed, so it is again at the end that John will have the last word. When John was called by Jesus he was mending nets (See Matthew 4:21), which was a fitting representation of his future purpose. His letters bound together and completed the message of the New Testament, just as the Book of Revelation bound together and completed the whole canon of Scripture. With his great revelation John was given the last word in canon Scripture, and so the "ministry" of this great pillar of the church will be the final message of this church age. Could this be what the Lord meant when He said to Peter concerning John, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?" (John 21:22).

It does appear that it will be the message of John which will be prevailing in the church when the Lord comes. Peter was the evangelist; Paul was the teacher; John was the prophet. John somehow remained aloof from the conflict between Jewish and Gentile Christianity, and the clashes between Paul and Peter. We must understand the importance of these conflicts and their proper resolution for all of Christianity, but John's vision was beyond doctrine—he was not just devoted to the words of the Lord, but to the Word Himself. John saw Him Who was the beginning, and then on the Isle of Patmos he saw Him who was the End—John knew the Alpha and the Omega.

The Ministry Of John:

John was prophetic. The enemy has been successful in implanting a caricature of this ministry that is very different from its true nature. The commonly accepted concept of prophets is that they are angry and always looking for what is wrong with everyone else. However, John, who is probably the most perfect example of the true prophetic nature in the Age of Grace, was very different. His emphasis was on abiding in the Lord and loving one another. Nor was he dogmatic, but he was much more prone to view the great concepts of the faith than to be a stickler for doctrinal purity. As Paul was especially in tune with the mind of Christ, John leaned his head upon the breast of the Lord where he could hear the heartbeat of God. This is the essence of the true prophetic ministry—intimacy with God. First and foremost this will be the greatest contribution of the prophetic ministry to the last day church. The place that John had, leaning upon His breast, is now available to anyone who desires it. The Scriptures clearly testify that we are all as close to the Lord as we want to be. If we draw near to Him He will draw near to us. The veil has been rent, and we can enter into His presence if we choose to. Intimacy with God is the most contagious power on the face of the earth. Jesus is the true desire of every human heart. When He is lifted up by the church He will draw all men to Himself. The church now knows much and has done much for the sake of the gospel, but the last and greatest thing that we can do still remains, which is simply to become intimate with God. As we draw near to Him we will become like Him, and that is what the world is waiting to see. Until we live what we say, the world has an excuse not to believe our words. The scope of John's vision lifted men into the spiritual realm. During his vision on the Isle of Patmos, John saw Babylon from the valley, but when he was carried to a "high mountain" he saw the New Jerusalem. From the earthly perspective men will get caught up in the confusion and doctrinal conflicts of Babylon. When we are caught up into the heavenly places to see as God sees, we do not see the confusion and conflict in the church—we see what God is building. To the earthbound and the visionless, the great doctrines like "free-will" and "election" conflict with each other, but from God's perspective they wonderfully compliment one another. John would have never been a Calvinist or an Armenian, but could have had great fellowship with each, and would have drawn out the essence of their truths. Neither would John have been a Catholic, a Protestant, an Evangelical, a Pentecostal, a Charismatic or member of the Third, Fourth or Fifth Waves—but he would have loved every one of them. John never succumbed to the carnality of doctrinal divisions. This was not because he did not care about truth, but because his vision was high enough to perceive the truth as it was, and one truth will never conflict with another truth. John did not see truths as just facts, but he saw Jesus as the Truth. John saw beyond the church—his vision was fastened upon the glorified Christ.

The Heartbeat Of God:

Fittingly, it was John who recorded in his gospel the last great prayer of Jesus before He entered into His passion. When facing death the ultimate issues of the heart are revealed. It was on this last night that the heart of Jesus was so profoundly expressed in His prayer to the Father. In this situation Jesus prayed for that which He cared the most about—His church. First He prayed, "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:17).

To be sanctified in the truth involves more than just believing it; this requires that we be changed by it. It is not believing in our minds, but with our hearts which results in righteousness (See Romans 10:10).

When we begin to believe in our hearts what we believe in our minds, then our lives will be radically different, and our words will be ultimately powerful. Living waters only come out of the "innermost being," and our message will not be living until it comes from our hearts. It will be the prophetic ministry with John's nature that will help transform the great truths that have been deposited in the church from doctrine to a lifestyle. Only when they become life will they produce unity. The Lord then prayed, "...that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us..." (verse 21). This is not just agreement about doctrines, or even coming together around the same projects or visions. Jesus prayed for His church to have a unity of the most extraordinary kind—that we would have the same union with each other that He had with the Father! This kind of unity can only come one way—by our receiving the very last thing that Jesus prayed for us to have: "... that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them" (verse 26). This might be the greatest single thought contained in the Scripture—that we could actually have, abiding in us, the same love for Jesus that the Father had for Him! It was also John who wrote: "And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him" (I John 5:14-15).

Since we know that Jesus was of one mind with the Father, and that He only prayed according to His will, we can know by this that it is His will that we have in us the same love for His Son that He has. Is there anything greater than this that should be at the top of our prayer list? This last request of the Son before His passion is the key to the fulfillment of His other requests. When we have the same love for Him that the Father has, we will be sanctified by the greatest truth in the universe —that God is love and He wants us all to love His Son as intensely as He does. Such love would never do anything to injure or cause division within His church. Such love would remain pure just as the purest bride for the husband she adores. The glory of God is much more than just golden light or brilliant colors. The true glory of God is revealed in His nature. In the ultimate sense the glory of God is best perceived in the love between the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is the personification of that love, and He exists to reveal this great love. When He moved upon "the formless void" it was to bring forth Jesus; And he is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself ... (Colossians 1:15-20).

The Lord Jesus also prayed that "... the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one" (John 17:22).

The glory of God is His nature, which is most perfectly personified in Jesus. He has given us Jesus to be in us, that we might be one. If the whole creation is "held together" in Him, how much more union should the church have, which is first and foremost the beginning of the "new creation" in Him? John later stated this foundational truth: "but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another..." (I John 1:7).

The word "fellowship" evolved from the phrase "two fellows in a ship," with the inference being that, since there were just two of them, they had to work together if they were to get to their destination. If we walk in the light, as Jesus is in the light, we will have fellowship. Those who break fellowship with the church are no longer dwelling in the light.

We Must Have All Three:

Ecclesiastes 4:12 reads: "And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." When the church was built around the single pillar of emphasis upon Peter, evil did easily overpower it. As emphasis upon Paul's ministry was regained the church did become much more stable. However, for the church to be properly built it must be built upon the proper Foundation, which is Jesus Himself, and around all three of these three great pillars of the faith. When the church ceases to be evangelistic and to reach out to the world, the dying process has begun. If she does not combine evangelistic zeal with sound doctrine she will fall into devastating errors as the church of the Middle Ages did. However, if the church does not combine these two essentials with prophetic vision into the realm of the Spirit, and the devotion to personal intimacy with the Lord that John understood, a form of godliness that denies His power and His presence will be the result. We must thank God for Peter and for Paul. If all of the disciples had been of the nature of John, it is unlikely that 3,000 new believers would have been added to the church on the Day of Pentecost, or that the Gentiles would have ever had the gospel preached to them. If it were not for Paul and his great devotion to truth and the essence of the New Covenant, it is possible that the church would have just been absorbed back into Judaism. But without the ministry of John we may have a large and glorious church, with everything in perfect order—except there would be no God! Jesus Himself is the example of what all of these ministries are like when properly combined with the perfect heart of the Shepherd. The prophetic ministry represented by John has a special place during the end of this age. This is not because it is more important than the others, but because it plays a special role in preparing the bride for her coming King. The Lord is yearning for His bride to mature, and to come forth without "spot or wrinkle." Having no spot speaks of her purity; having no wrinkle speaks of her perpetual youthfulness. The emerging prophetic ministry will help prepare the church in both purity of life and intimacy with the Lord, which is the source of her youthful love for Him.

Every Birth Is Painful:

In many ways, the process of travail and birth subjects babies to the greatest pressures they will ever experience in life. The emerging prophetic ministry likewise has gone through a bloody and painful birth. This is not unique; the restoration of every ministry to the church went through a similar process. It is also the nature of Satan to try to destroy everything that God is bringing to birth as soon as it emerges from the womb, since at that time it is the most vulnerable (see Revelation 12:1-4).

Immediately after the most difficult struggles of the birth process, every seed of God is usually subject to its greatest attack from Satan. This too has happened to the last day prophetic ministry, but the baby has survived and is now growing in wisdom and stature. It is the destiny of this ministry to rise in stature until the prophetic nature thrives in the church, and is properly joined with the pillars of evangelism and teaching. Whether we like it, or want it, the prophetic ministry will soon reach its greatest height of influence and stature in the church since the apostle John was exiled to Patmos. The whole church will be transformed by this ministry as much as it was by the Reformation influence of the teachers. This will not take as long because we are coming to the end of the age. We are now closer to the birth of the age in which Christ will reign, and the contractions of travail have become both more intense and more frequent, just as they do with a woman in childbirth.

Signs Of The End:

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter quoted Joel, citing the great signs that would indicate the last days. He spoke, "... your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams ..." (Acts 2:17).

These revelation gifts will indeed be a prevailing influence in the last day church. However, we could not handle these gifts properly if they were not built upon the strong pillars of evangelism and sound teaching. We must not abandon its predecessors because the prophetic has come, but rather fasten ourselves more firmly to them. If we remove any one of these pillars, then the house will be unstable; if we remove two of them then it will surely collapse. Most congregations that I have visited reflect the basic nature of their pastor. There will be a strong evangelistic burden in the congregation, if he is an evangelist. If the pastor is a strong teacher, then the congregation will be strong in doctrine and devotion to the word, but it will often be weak in evangelism. A prophetic pastor will yield a congregation given to the prophetic gifts and experiencing encounters with the Lord, but which may be weak in evangelism and teaching. The last day church will be strong in all three, with each emphasis properly relating to, and supporting the others. Like the rope of three cords, the house of three pillars will be the strongest of all. The ministries of Peter, Paul and John may have had some conflicts, but they are not in conflict with each other. In fact, there must be union between them if there is to be a true Christlike ministry revealed through the church again. The time has come when the "ministry of John" will ascend to the place of significant influence in the church, which will be needed for a season until all of the ministries come into harmony. As they do, congregations, denominations, and movements that receive the proper balance of all three will grow closer together. Then the house of the Lord will grow strong, full of His glory, a Holy Temple prepared for His presence.